Brightness on a Rainy Day
by P.J. Murphy
Summary: Chuck and Sarah visit his father's grave on Memorial Day. While there, they meet a woman whose entire family gave their lives for our freedom. One-chapter story dedicated to those who died in the service of our country.


_Hello again. Sorry I've been so lax in putting out new chapters, but work has kept me pretty busy, and I've been trying to set up my next **Forrest & Slade** story which hasn't been as easy as I had hoped. But I am trying my best._

_I'm keeping up my holiday tradition with a Memorial Day story. This story was inspired by someone I met in St. Louis last weekend at the hotel while I was visiting some friends. We sat in the crowded dining area at the hotel enjoying a Sunday morning breakfast, and this gentleman shared a table with us. He was marching in a parade later that day, and he was an Air Force vet who served in Vietnam. He told my friends and me some amazing stories about his service over there and what he and his wife had done since he had come home. Not everyone who has served our country gets to tell stories like that. Far too many don't get a chance to come home, and we should always remember them and their families for the sacrifices they made to keep our country safe and keep it a country where you can be anything you want if you put your mind and heart behind it._

_So thank you to that man for serving and thank you to all of our veterans for protecting our land. And to those who never made it home, may your sacrifice never be forgotten. _

* * *

_**Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Los Angeles  
**__**May 27, 2013  
**__**10:00 AM**_

Sarah stood by quietly holding two umbrellas: the one she used for herself and the second one she was wise enough to bring and hold over Chuck as he laid a wreath of flowers at the grave of his father. She only had the stories about Stephen Bartowski Chuck had told her, but she realized how important he was to him. Being with Chuck for these past two years since they left the spy business for good made her realize how important family truly was, which was why she made sure she kept in contact with her own parents. And of course, she joined Chuck in every opportunity possible to visit her sister-in-law and her husband in Chicago, along with her beautiful niece. Holding Clara in her arms jogged a few memories for her, specifically those of holding the little girl who eventually became her sister, Molly. Her mother filled her in on the details, how Sarah kept her protected from Kieran Ryker, how she regretted not staying with her instead of going with her father, and asking Molly get all the opportunities she missed.

"I love you, Dad," Chuck said, giving the top of the headstone a gentle kiss and slowly rising. His face had droplets all over it; the downpour that had been going on all morning in Los Angeles having made things difficult for anyone with outside activities today, but Sarah knew there were a few teardrops mixed in. She handed him his umbrella and gently cradled his face with her free hand, using her thumb to wipe away the drops near his eyes.

"Are you OK?" she asked softly.

Chuck nodded. "I would have thought this would get easier every year, but it never does. Thank you so much for being here."

She smiled. "I wouldn't want to be anywhere else but with you today."

Chuck leaned down and gave her a soft kiss, careful not to bump his umbrella against hers. Of course, any time he kissed her, he was at risk to stumble or be knocked off his feet.

They turned towards their car when they spotted an older woman who appeared to be in frail health attempting to walk towards the gravesites with three bouquets of flowers in her hands. However, she needed a walker to get around and the legs of the walker continued to burrow into the soft ground, causing her to struggle to even take a few steps. Not to mention the fact she was getting soaked because she didn't have a third hand to carry an umbrella.

Chuck and Sarah walked over to her. "Ma'am? May we give you a hand?" Chuck asked.

The older woman looked up at him and smiled. "Thank you so much. I would really appreciate that." She looped her arm through Chuck's as he held his umbrella over her. Sarah grabbed the walker in one hand and held her umbrella over the woman as well.

"I'm heading over there," the woman said, gesturing with the flowers. Up ahead, Chuck could make out the backs of three headstones that looked exactly alike. Sarah and he led the woman over to those graves. When they came around to read the inscriptions, Chuck's breath caught in his throat.

The center headstone read _Sgt_. _Charles R. Fulton - "Charlie" - May 20__th__, 1945 – December 22__nd__, 1969_. To the left was his son: _Cpl. John Michael "Jack" Fulton – October 5, 1967 – January 24, 1991_. To the right was his daughter: _Capt. Evelyn Fulton – November 8, 1968 – September 11, 2001_.

"My God," Chuck whispered, hoping the woman didn't hear it.

"I come here every year," the woman explained. "I guess I should have prepared better this year. I told my other daughter I would be fine and she could bring my grandson to visit his other grandparents in Memphis. I wasn't expecting it to rain so much today."

"Nobody was," Chuck replied with a shrug.

"I'm sorry, I didn't even introduce myself. I'm Grace Fulton, and obviously this is most of my family here."

"I'm Chuck Bartowski, and this is my wife, Sarah."

Grace looked back and forth between the two. "You two make a beautiful couple. I'll bet you have a great story on how you met."

Chuck and Sarah looked at each other and exchanged a smile. "You could say that," Sarah told the woman.

Grace gestured with her flowers. "Well, since you were sweet enough to help me this far, could you help me with the rest?"

"Of course," Chuck replied. Sarah went quickly to the three vases in front of each of the headstones and poured out the rainwater that had collected in them. Chuck held two of the bouquets in his hand as Grace placed the other bouquet into the vase in front of her husband's gravestone. She then took a bouquet from Chuck and placed it in the vase for her son, and then she placed the last bouquet in the vase for her daughter.

Sarah took a quick look around. "I'll be right back," she said as she spotted someone several rows away.

"Your husband died in Vietnam?" Chuck asked gently.

Grace nodded. "He was on his third tour. He was saving his money and was going to go to college when he got back to the States, but a mortar attack changed that. Jack was a West Point grad on his first deployment. His convoy was hit by a landmine in Operation Desert Storm. Eve knew I wasn't happy about her decision, but she had been in a dead-end job and wanted to go into OTS for the Air Force. She aced it with flying colors and she was never happier in her life. She was assigned to work at the Pentagon. And then…

Chuck hung his head. "9/11. A friend of ours lost her fiancé there."

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that, dear," Grace said, gripping Chuck's arm. "That must have been devastating for her."

"It was. It changed her life forever, but things for her are much better these days."

"My other daughter, Claire, her father died in a training accident for the Air Force. And then she lost her mother to a drunk driver, so I took her in. Jack and Eve treated her like family. I think she was grateful for that. She promised she was never going to leave my side. Never. Her husband understands. Wonderful man she found. He's vice-president at a bank here in Los Angeles. They're talking about having a second child. They went to Arlington yesterday to see her father. Charlie's parents are buried here, so I thought I would honor them by keeping their son with them. Then when Jack was killed I thought I would keep the family together. The Defense Department was very helpful with Jack and with Eve."

"Here," Sarah said as she walked up. "I think we need these, too. They were handing them out."

Grace smiled at the three small American flags in Sarah's hands. "Would you do the honors?" Grace asked.

Sarah placed a flag in the ground next to each of the vases. "Thank you, Sarah," Grace said. "Were the two of you visiting someone today?"

Chuck nodded. "My father."

"Was he in the military, too?"

"He…worked for the government," Chuck replied carefully so he wouldn't give away too much.

"Well, if he's anything like his son and his son's beautiful wife, he must have been an amazing person."

Chuck looked down at the ground and wiped away a stray tear. "That he was."

Grace carefully turned around and Chuck offered his arm to her, which she gladly accepted. The three walked towards her car.

"I certainly hope there are kids in your future," Grace told Chuck and Sarah. "I can tell you two would make wonderful parents."

Chuck smiled. "Well, I don't know…"

"Children are a wonderful gift when they're given to wonderful people," Grace replied. "I was a teacher in L.A. Unified until I got my twenty-five in and retired. I could always tell which kids were raised right and would make wonderful parents. When it happens, you should never turn it down."

"I'm sure someday we will," Sarah replied. "After all, you're right. I do have an amazing husband."

"And I have a delightful wife," Chuck replied.

"I hope your kids bring as much joy as mine brought me," Grace said.

The three walked back to Grace's car.


End file.
